IBM mainframe support takes a break

Big Blue blames routine maintenance

IBMLink, the place Big Blue's mainframe customers go for online support, suffered a weekend of downtime between 8 June and 11 June.

Posters on a Google group called the problems "absurd", but a spokeswoman for IBM told the Reg it was planned maintenance and publicly announced. She wasn't sure quite where it was publicly announced though.

One poster said: "Down all weekend as near as I can tell. Unacceptable since we (and most other shops) do weekend upgrades." Some claimed the problem was because IBM was moving its mainframe support off a mainframe and onto another architecture.

Another asked: "It has been slow or down all day. How can an organization (IBM) who is trying to promote the mainfame as a platform of choice, migrate one of their most important functions off the mainframe? Sounds like very few listserv members are happy with their decision and we are their loudest advocates."